“As part of the security system deployed in the Paris metropolitan area, at 9:30 a.m., 40 arrests have already been made, mainly for carrying prohibited weapons or protection,” the capital’s police headquarters said on X, relaying images of the seizures.
“As soon as installed, immediately removed”. On its X account, the Paris police headquarters also reported having removed barricades on the Champs-Élysées. “Protesting is a right. Obstructing traffic on public roads is not,” writes the prefecture. “We call on everyone to express their demands calmly and with respect for public order.”
Early in the morning, publications on social networks relayed images of the blocked avenue, and claimed that it was the Élysée which was barricaded in anticipation of the demonstrations planned for this Saturday.
The LFI mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, guest of franceinfo this morning, declared to the high school students: “You have the right to demonstrate, go ahead (...), we will be at your side because your fight is just and legitimate.”
“The objective is at the same time the convergence of struggles, of the indignant and of generations,” continued Bally Bagayoko, who hopes that this mobilization of October 17 will be “the starting point of a more important dynamic”.
“Violence can be legitimate but it must be avoided”: Bally Bagayoko returns to the controversy sparked by his declaration. “Violence is not necessarily physical (...), the first violence is institutional,” specifies the LFI mayor of Saint-Denis.
From 8 a.m., around twenty people installed a filter barrier, with trash cans and large pallets, near the Leclerc shopping center in the Cleunay district of Rennes. Julie, a student, says she is “there to save public services” and in “support of high school students against police violence”. “We need more money for schools and hospitals and less for the army,” she added to AFP.
Burning barricades were also installed by demonstrators on the ring road, at Porte de Villejean, leading to an interruption of traffic, reported the prefect of Brittany and Ille-et-Vilaine on X. When the police arrived, the individuals left the scene. Law enforcement officers secure the area.
An intervention is also underway on the road to Lorient, where paving stones were thrown by demonstrators against the internal security forces, said the prefect.
In Lyon, several businesses in the city center barricaded their windows with wooden panels to avoid damage after Tuesday's demonstration marked by numerous incidents. Moreover, she was unable to complete it. The procession of 11,000 to 15,000 people was dispersed after damage to a service station. The first mobilization, on October 6, which brought together almost twice as many participants, was nevertheless held peacefully.
Several gathering points are planned in the Rhône department this Saturday, October 17. Free toll operations and road blockages are announced. Appointments are also given at the Feyzin refinery or at the oil warehouse at the Édouard Herriot port without knowing whether they will be kept. The prefecture has warned that “no blockages on structuring axes and major, important, essential equipment will be tolerated”.
Although no demonstration route has been submitted, several calls for gatherings are circulating. The most relayed will meet at 2 p.m. on Place Bellecour. State services announce “an adapted and robust security system” to intervene “systematically” in the event of violence or damage. As in recent days, orders prohibiting the transport of fuel and pyrotechnic devices have been issued by the prefecture.
At 9 a.m., the prefecture announced the presence of a “hostile group of around a hundred people” on the banks of the Rhône. The police are present on site. They have already dispersed a group of 40 individuals who were trying to obstruct traffic at the Guillotière bridge. Ditto in the north of the city where a group of around fifteen individuals was dispersed at the Feyssine roundabout. Finally, the meeting at the Feyzin refinery was joined by around ten people, also dispersed by the police.
Faced with the mobilizations expected this Saturday, Sébastien Lecornu convened an interministerial crisis unit (CIC), at the level of the chiefs of staff of the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and other members of the government concerned.
In recent days, the government has stepped up its efforts to try to defuse the protest. Thursday evening, a new meeting with the high school organizations did not dispel their dissatisfaction. The Prime Minister announced an envelope of between 500 and 700 million euros for the 2027 agricultural recovery plan, as the specter of a resumption of farmer mobilization looms.
The executive also extended aid intended for sectors most exposed to rising fuel prices. So many social fronts that the government seeks to contain, in a context of strong budgetary constraints.
The RATP announced the closure of 25 metro and RER stations from 8 a.m. this Saturday, “at the request of the Police Prefecture”.
In detail, the stops will not be served this Saturday, October 17 from 8 a.m. at:
Charles de Gaulle-Étoile (lines 1, 2 and 6, RER A)
Champs-Élysées - Clemenceau (lines 1 and 13)
Concorde (lines 1, 8 and 12)
Opera (lines 3, 7 and 8)
Tuileries (line 1)
Pyramids (lines 7 and 14)
Madeleine (lines 8, 12 and 14)
National Assembly (line 12)
Miromesnil (lines 9 and 13)
From 12 p.m., “the trains will run without stopping and connections will therefore not be ensured” at the stations:
Antwerp (line 2)
White (line 2)
Pigalle (lines 2 and 12)
Bastille (lines 1, 5 and 8)
Stock market (line 3)
The reopening of these stations will take place “upon authorization from the Police Prefecture”, specifies the RATP.
